Into the Collegiate West we go (on the Colorado Trail)

This post first appeared on The Trek on August 22, 2022. If you’re hiking southbound on the Colorado Trail, as most people do, just past Twin Lakes Village, you reach the revered Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. Here, you have two choices. March on into the wilderness via the official CT route – the Collegiate East –

Six tips for hiking the first quarter of the Colorado Trail

This post first appeared on The Trek on August 20, 2022. One aspect of trail life that I love so much is that the learning curve is so steep. You hop on a trail and a week later you’ve already learned so much! This holds true for the Colorado Trail, which I am currently thru-hiking.

A swimming bear, shooting stars, and a 10 by 10: Colorado Trail thru-hike days one through three

This post first appeared on The Trek on August 10, 2022. The beginning of my Colorado Trail thru-hike didn’t exactly go off without a hitch. As I mentioned in my preparation posts, my friends Ibex and Dori, both of whom were a part of my Appalachian Trail tramily, are joining me for this adventure. I

Six ways I’m preparing for my Colorado Trail thru-hike

This post was first published on The Trek on July 27, 2022. I ditched Washington, DC, for the Appalachian Trail (AT) and then Colorado over four years ago, but the Type A habits I picked up there live on. While I certainly can fly by the seat of pants, I typically don’t. The truth is,

Nine Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes to Try on Your Next Backpacking Trip

I’ve reached out to the social media universe for their favorite vegan and vegetarian recipes to cook while backpacking. Here are the recipes that they shared!

Six Lessons I Learned By Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail

In 2018, after seven years of living and working on a public relations career in Washington, D.C., I quit my dream job to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (AT). The next six months went by in a flash. Day in and day out, I trudged up and over mountains, in extreme cold and sweltering heat, through swarms of mosquitos, in sickness and in health, through 14 states from Georgia to Maine. These are the lessons I learned from doing so.

10 Ways to Save for Your Next Adventure

Want to go on a great adventure? Whether that means thru-hiking a long trail (like me – I’m gunning for the Pacific Crest Trail next!), backpacking through Europe, or living in Bali for six months, you better save that money, honey! I’ve spent a lot of time in the past year and a half reading

Ready, Set, (Almost Time to) Go!

This post was first published on TheTrek.co on March 13, 2018.  Whatever happened to the calm before the storm? You would be surprised just how much preparation goes into a thru-hike. It seems simple, right? Pack up your backpack with camping gear and snacks and hit the road. Go be free, little bird, go be

The Long and Winding Road to the Appalachian Trail

This post was first published on TheTrek.co on February 28, 2018.  Why? That is, of course, the first word that tends to pop out of a person’s mouth the moment you tell them you’re planning a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (otherwise known simply as “the AT”) from Georgia to Maine. Usually, it is accompanied